Preview: Calgary Flames @ Washington Capitals 3/21/17 (73/82)

The Flames and red hot Brian Elliott will hit the road for 3, starting in Washington DC with the Capitals. The Flames have won 12 of their last 13 and Elliott has played a huge role in that success. Calgary’s net minder has won 11 in a row and if he wins his 12th, he will break Mike Vernon’s franchise record set back in 1988-89. The Flames are hovering between 6th and 7th place in the West, but as of now have a playoff spot in hand. The Flames will be short handed tonight as Matthew Tkachuk is suspended for 2 games and Micheal Ferland is still under medical watch, possibly for the mumps.

The Capitals have already clinched themselves a playoff spot and just to show you how dominant they have been this season, the Caps haven’t had the best month. Washington is 4-4-1 in March, including a 4 game losing skid, yet, they are already waiting for the playoffs to start. Washington is tied with Columbus at 100 points in the East with 11 games left in their season.

The Flames and Capitals met way back on October 30th with the Capitals beating Elliott and the Flames 3-1. That was then, this Flames team is drastically different than the team that Washington beat early on in the season. Calgary is 17-24-6 when visiting Washington, but are 3-1-0 in their last 4 trips.

Here’s how the teams match-up:

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 5 LA Kings 2

The Flames last took to the ice Monday night and took down the Kings 5-2. Brian Elliott stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced and the Flames got multi point games from Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monhan. Here’s our game recap, the highlights and Sean Monahan’s post game thoughts.

Washington Capitals 5 Tampa Bay Lightning 3

The Caps last took the ice on Saturday and dispatched the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3. The win was Washington’s second in three games after coming off a 4 game losing streak. T.J. Oshie set the pace for the game collecting a hat trick and adding an assist. Japers’ Rink has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Calgary Flames

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Sean Monahan (C). Monahan had a 3 point (1G 2A) night against the LA Kings, which gave him 9 points in 8 games this month. His goal on Monday gave him the team lead with 23 and he’s getting good quality looks while out on the ice.

Washington Capitals

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T.J. Oshie (F). Oshie leads the Capitals with 29 goals and 3 of those came Saturday against the Lightning. He has 5 goals this month, but came up empty in the Capitals game early this season against the Flames.